Jeff Greene's Tideline resort in Palm Beach changes name as redo upends guests' plans

Renovations at the former Tideline Ocean Resort and Spa — recently rebranded as the Greenehouse Palm Beach Ocean Resort — have scuttled plans for guests and left some scrambling to find answers as their travel or event dates approach and they try to reach anyone who can help, including Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, who owns the resort.

Guests have taken to social media and public review websites to share frustration and express confusion as to why they have not been able to reach anyone at the resort at Palm Beach's south end, just north of Lake Worth Beach on South Ocean Boulevard, as it undergoes a major $20 million update and rebranding.

More: Jeff Greene updates timeline for reopening of Tideline Ocean Resort in Palm Beach

The answer: There was a communication breakdown as the resort temporarily closed for the work, and Greene said he and the previous management company parted ways.

"My wife and I live in Palm Beach, and we understand the people in Palm Beach expect and deserve quality service," Greene said. The management company, Concord Hospitality Enterprises, "didn't seem to be a fit," he said.

Asked if he will hire another management company, Greene said he is bringing in his own people to run the resort. The Palm Beach Daily News has reached out to Concord Hospitality for comment.

Guests who are concerned about a reservation or have questions should email new general manager Kai Fischer, kai.fischer@tlpbhospitality.com, Greene said.

Concerned brides said they have been left adrift by the Tideline's closure, which began in August and was expected to be completed in mid-December. With no one to contact to plan their events, the brides who spoke to the Palm Beach Daily News said they rushed to find alternate venues, including one after she already paid a deposit to the Tideline.

Greene, through his corporation 2842 S Ocean LLC, bought the resort that is now the Greenehouse for $42 million in 2011. He changed the name from the Omphoy to the Tideline, and over the years has enlisted a number of management companies to run it. The name recently changed, and Greene has not made a formal announcement, though the Tideline's former website now redirects to the Greenehouse at greenehouseresort.com.

The resort recently was affiliated with the Marriott brand. A spokesperson for Marriott told the Palm Beach Daily News that the internationally known hospitality company has not been affiliated with the Tideline since early November. In addition to Concord and Marriott, past management companies and affiliations include Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, Waterford Group and Dream Hotel Group, according to reports.

Speaking to the Palm Beach Daily News on Friday, Greene said the resort and Concord parted ways without Concord's team forwarding the phones.

"When we were doing this renovation, they didn't really provide notice" to guests, Greene said of the lack of communication.

He said his goal is to make sure every guest is taken care of.

"Our hotel has never been more beautiful," Greene said of the Greenehouse. It had been scheduled for a mid-November completion, but now will open within the next week. "It's going to be a true five-star experience."

All of the furniture and finishes in the hotel are new, along with a new roof and new pool surface, Greene said.

The rebranding came as part of the renovation because "everything is like a brand new beautiful hotel," he said. "It's the newest oceanfront hotel in Palm Beach, in a way."

With the Greenehouse's position right next to the Four Seasons resort, Greene said it's important to offer a comparable level of service.

"The beach is the same beach and the same ocean, the only difference is that everything we have is brand new," Greene said of his resort.

Booking for the Greenehouse is "live and operational," Fischer said. The website is being rebuilt, and the resort will be linked to luxury travel sites within the next few days as the Greenehouse moves from its previous platform to the new one, Fischer added.

"We're looking to create distinctive, curated guest experiences that are befitting Palm Beach," Fischer said. While other resorts on the island may not be as intimate or have a beachfront location, the Greenehouse has both, he said.

Fischer has three decades of experience working in five-star resorts, Greene said. Fischer added that he has consulted with Greene on the Tideline-now-Greenehouse for about a year, and officially joined the team about two months ago following the departure of Concord.

Sally Duarte and her fiance Ralph Etienne visited the Tideline over the summer, then in August signed a contract and paid a $3,000 deposit to have their wedding at the resort on Feb. 24, 2024. Duarte said she and Etienne met with the resort's hospitality and catering manager, who soon after taking the deposit let the couple know about extensive renovations that were planned.

"She sent me some drawings and pictures, and she said it's going to be fabulous," Duarte said. "And it's scheduled to be done in October. So I said, that's great. The hotel will be refurbished."

While Duarte expected the renovations could extend beyond the initial October completion date, she thought maybe it would be a month or two. In the meantime, she hired a wedding planner and got to work on the details for the big day.

In September, Duarte's wedding planner asked for the Tideline contract so she could contact the resort to begin planning for things like menu selections and the design of the event space. The planner emailed and called the resort, and did not receive a response. When Duarte tried to email the hospitality and catering manager who took her deposit, the email bounced back, undeliverable.

Duarte's wedding planner looked online and began to find reviews from frustrated guests and brides. "They scheduled weddings for September and October, and then they didn't tell the people," Duarte said. "They found out accidentally."

Still, because it was October and the renovations were ongoing, Duarte held out hope that someone would get back to her — which didn't happen.

Her wedding planner told her to prepare for the worst case scenario: They may need to find a different venue.

Duarte has visited the Tideline several times to watch the construction progress. She said she's seen major progress.

"But how much longer do I hold out? At some point I need to get to the place to make plans, and make menu selections, and move forward with decor," she said. "Nobody is getting back to me."

Duarte said she has been frantic trying to decide whether now is the time to find another venue, and what she will have to do about her deposit. "Nobody is returning my calls, and nobody is sending me my money back," she said.

The process has been upsetting because Duarte fell in love with the Tideline. "It's got a beautiful reception area," she said. "I started to make plans for decor, because they have these really beautiful windows overlooking the ocean. I started to think about sunsets, and I've got vendors lined up.

"Now I'm at the point where I have to scramble and find another location, because this is not going to work," she said.

The date chosen by Duarte and Etienne for their wedding is particularly meaningful because it is the anniversary of her mother's death, she said. "The idea was to make that day a joyful one, rather than sad," Duarte said. "That's why I'm really attached to it."

Duarte is from Canada and has people from her hometown who made plans to be in Palm Beach for that date.

Elyse Davis of New Jersey said she is scheduled for weeklong stay starting Jan. 8 that she booked through Marriott in September. At the time, she saw reviews that noted the resort was being renovated but thought it remained open.

Then she received an email from Marriott in November.

"It said that after Nov. 16, any communication regarding this reservation needs to be made directly with the hotel," Davis said. The email continues: "Marriott will not be responsible for anything concerning your reservation or your stay at the hotel after that date."

A phone number for the then-Tideline was included, but when Davis called, the number was not in service. She looked up another phone number online, and that number also was not in service, she said.

She turned to the town of Palm Beach, trying to find contact information through a permit or person in the planning department. When that proved fruitless, Davis called the Palm Beach police, thinking they may be able to tell her at least if the resort was open.

That's when she contacted the press, reaching out to the Palm Beach Daily News.

"I just don't want to be billed, and rightfully so," Davis said. "They could bill me if I don't have a cancellation number."

Davis' plans have changed since she made the reservation: Now instead of going to Florida, she will travel to Israel. "Hopefully I'll be back by mid-January and eventually come down," she said. "All of my friends are in Florida for the season."

She's frustrated there hasn't been a way to contact to the property, and that no one has reached out to her about her reservation. "It just baffles me," she said. "What happened if I didn't do my due diligence and showed up and the hotel was shuttered? Where would that leave me?"

Arriving at the Tideline expecting a resort stay and facing a construction fence is one of the many reports shared on public review websites including TripAdvisor and Google. The Google listing for Tideline Ocean Resort and Spa says the hotel is permanently closed.

One reviewer on TripAdvisor said that in July, he booked a stay through Marriott for an October visit to the Tideline. He received an email two days before the visit to check in, but suspected something was amiss when he tried to call the resort to find out if there would be a refrigerator in the room — and received a recorded message that his call could not be completed as dialed.

As he and his wife prepared to board their flight from Newark, New Jersey, to West Palm Beach, he contacted Marriott and was told that there was nothing wrong and that the hotel was open.

When the couple arrived at the Tideline at almost 11 that night, they found it hidden behind a construction fence. They learned it was closed for renovations from an employee at the Four Seasons next door, the man wrote.

Other reviewers reported that they were notified by Marriott that their reservations were cancelled, just days before they were scheduled to arrive at the resort. One reviewer said she found out about the change when she called Marriott to ask a question about her stay.

Greenehouse is one of many hotels in Greene's hospitality portfolio, including a Fairfield Inn and Suites in Jupiter on Indiantown Road, 88 Palms Hotel — formerly a Ramada — in West Palm Beach and the Courtyard by Marriott Boynton Beach on North Congress Avenue.

As guests begin to book new stays at the Greenehouse, Greene said it will be a slow launch. Guests will begin to arrive within days, he said. "It's like conducting an orchestra," he said. "You want the players to all be playing in perfect harmony before you go on stage."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Tideline in Palm Beach changes name as renovations upend guests' plans